Happiness and Self-Fulfillment

You can avoid the self-esteem traps that create unrealistic self-importance instead of healthy self-esteem. You should continue to build yourself up despite possible self-esteem traps because living with low self-esteem has many negative consequences as well. Low self-esteem can make you unwilling and unmotivated to achieve what you are capable of, averse to relationships that you deserve, and it can make you vulnerable to depression.1 In order to protect yourself, it is, therefore, vital to build your self-esteem. However, there are ways that build self-esteem that can end up fostering other negative outcomes in your life, or self-esteem traps. If you want to maximize your wellbeing and have more positive interactions with people, then it pays to be mindful of the self-esteem traps of narcissism, jealousy and resentment.

Did you know that there are ways to improve confidence in less than five minutes? Whether you are feeling anxious about a meeting, worried about a test or feel down in the dumps, these tricks have helped me shift my mind from fearful to feeling in control and they take just a minute or two of your time. These are ways to improve confidence.

Your job affects your self-esteem in both positive and negative ways. Many people today report more dissatisfaction with their jobs, and this impacts them even when they aren’t working. Do you feel unhappy or energetically drained by the work you do? If so, there are a few things you can do to protect your self-worth and your energy. You can’t stop your job from affecting your self-esteem, but you can do things that balance any negativity.

Helping others improves your self-esteem and sense of purpose. People who volunteer their time, donate to a cause they care about, or aid someone in need of assistance, have higher self-esteem and overall wellbeing. How can you help others and improve your self-esteem?

It may feel challenging but you can stay confident during stressful times. Many people give into old habits and negative thinking patterns when they are under a lot of stress. This leads to succumbing to unhealthy behaviors that can lower your self-esteem. You can combat stress and stay confident, it just takes some awareness and practice.

Positive people have some secrets to share with you. Whether you struggle with negative thinking, low self-esteem or too many bad days, you can learn something from people who look at the world through rose-colored glasses. Positive people aren’t just born this way, they, too, have endured bad days and many have struggled with feeling good about themselves. That’s why the secrets of positive people are valuable, they’ve been in your shoes.

Almost everyone I know feels anxiety during the holidays but I believe you can experience less anxiety during the holidays. I’ve struggled with an anxiety disorder for years and most of the year it’s kind of manageable. However, my anxiety during the holidays is often higher. Instead of losing it completely, I have learned a few things that help me feel more in control (well, most of the time). Here are several tips that help me feel happier with less anxiety during the holidays — and these tips can help you too.

It’s important to stop quitting the things you enjoy just because you’re not confident. If you’re like many people, you may be depriving yourself of things you enjoy simply because you’re not good at them or feel inadequate. Perhaps you don’t try something because you’re afraid of exposing your weaknesses or imperfections, you fear making mistakes or you fear failure. Perhaps you compare yourself to others or worry too much about what others think. You might feel vulnerable and that can be very uncomfortable. However, doing things for the sake of enjoyment is important for your self-esteem, mental health and overall wellbeing. Stop quitting the things you enjoy just because you’re not confident.

Self-esteem might help with happiness, but is self-esteem the key to happiness? In answering this question, let’s look at the similarities between self-esteem and happiness. Both depend on your thoughts, both come from inside of yourself and they often go hand in hand. For example unhappiness or depression can trigger self-esteem issues and vice versa. Neither self-esteem nor happiness depend on externals such as money, status, possessions or other people. You can be happy or have healthy self-esteem regardless of these. Self-esteem and happiness nurture each other, therefore, building self-esteem can help you to become happier.

Having quality friendships is important for your wellbeing and it affects self-esteem in a big way. The sad truth is that there are many people without real friends. They may not have any friends at all, or the friends they do have may be toxic. People without real friends are often judged harshly either by others or themselves. They may be seen as outcasts or they may be bullied. Internally, they may feel shame, loneliness or depression.